Travelers and Royalty
by Staggered Pichu
Summary: Ryoga is a prince who yearns to be a regular villager and takes his frustrations out through martial arts training. Ranma is a traveler searching to better himself in martial arts in any way he can but will his curse stop him from achieving his goals or will it help him discover a side of himself that he never knew existed? How will Ryoga act when he finds out who Ranma is?
1. Chapter 1

It was a respectively quiet day where the waters of a nearby koi pond were calm and the sun shone rather brilliantly amongst the whispering _"hush hush"_ of the tree leaves below. From beneath one particular tree that provided a delicate barrier of shade from the high, afternoon sun, a young man of sixteen breathed heavily. Despite the mild spring temperature accompanied by the occasional cooling breeze, the young man had perspiration upon his brow. Reaching his arm up to his head, he unceremoniously brushed it away along with his messy bangs, dampening the cotton fabric that adorned said limb before berating himself. "Damn, where is it already?!" He whispered harshly to no one in particular. The sun was already halfway through the sky and he had still not found the correct location in which he needed to be.

Straightening his back, the boy decided to continue his search for the nearby palace in hopes of locating his current martial arts trainer. Just as he was about to retrace his steps, a commotion from beyond the gates, where the center of the village was located, caught his attention. His head moved to where his eyes could look past the gardens and towards said village. Unfortunately, his searching was stilled by the ever opposing wall that refused to yield before his gaze. Giving in, he commanded his body to turn ever so slowly towards the palace.

It was then that he was startled enough to opt for jumping backwards instead of turning as the wall he had failed to stare through came crashing down. The boy shielded his eyes from the dust and rubble that flew in all directions, his ears catching the sound of a surprised yell erupting from the debris as well as the thudding of what seemed to be hooves. Whether they were from a horse or not, the boy could not tell until the debris had finally settled. After which the offending creature made its way well past the wall and closer to the koi pond that stood just behind him.

Once the boy had regained his vision he realized that it was not a horse that had broken through the wall, it was actually an enraged bull with something upon its back. He had little time to observe anything other than a darker patch of coloration towards the top of the bull. _"Was that a black... pigtail?"_ He questioned himself before coming back to attention just fast enough to notice the bull was about to make a charge for him. This allowed him to ready the umbrella he had strapped upon his back, pointing it out in front of him in time for the bull to run head first into the tip, flinging the odd pigtailed shaped object into the ever present koi pond.

With the bull unconscious and twitching upon the ground, the boy felt safe enough to go and figure out what it was that had flown into the pond. As he approached, said pond seemed to be producing bubbles. Was it possible that it would need saving? If that was so then it would have to be a living creature. This sent him into a rushed state of panic. He rushed forward with his arm stretched far, about to plunge into the pond, when he stopped short. A hand, different from his own, jutted out and seized hold of the edge of one of the numerous rocks that were artistically arranged for decoration.

The young man stared in amazement as an equally young woman pulled herself from the water, koi fish frantically searching for a hiding spot below. As she stood the boy noticed the bright red hair limply draped over one shoulder with the help of a hair tie to form the shape of a pigtail. _"How could I have mistaken such a vibrant color for black? Is that truly what I glimpsed upon the bull earlier?"_ Was what he thought before falling into the spell of the girl's dazzling blue eyes that had been previously closed in order to fend off the intruding water. It took a moment for him to regain the ability to think, let alone form a coherent sentence. "A-a-a-are…" His eyes drifted closed and he paused, clearing his throat before trying again. "Are you alright?"

The young girl stepped from the water, holding her arms out to her sides in distaste as her oversized shirt clung to her curves, before being startled from her observations as the boy before her spoke. She had not even noticed him before he tried speaking to her. She let her gaze rest on him, taking in his appearance before letting a smile rest on her lips. It looked a bit… cocky, if he did say so himself, but then again he wasn't very good at reading people.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I wouldn't let something as menial as this put a dent in me." She stated while moving an arm to rest at her hip, elbow cocking outwards arrogantly. Her other hand was in the air near her chin, motioning in a controlled manner to indicate that she was fine. "I am the best martial artist around, after all." Her eyes became half-lidded, almost dangerously so, as if she expected him to challenge her claim.

As the boy was not one to refuse a challenge in any form, he pressed on, eager to not disappoint. "Is that so?" He took a half step forward. "Then maybe you'd be so kind as to tell me why you were clinging onto that bull for dear life if you weren't phased any." It came out as more of a statement than a question. He could tell that if she hadn't even been frightened then she wouldn't have been clinging as desperately as she seemed before. Most people he knew who were skilled in the art had the ability to at least jump off of a rampaging bull if it seemed to be putting them in some kind of turmoil.

A sly smile snuck its way onto his face as a thought struck him. "Or maybe it was all a ploy to put more weaknesses in our palace." He made a mock sound of surprise before continuing, "Don't tell me you were planning to come back later and sneak in to steal our riches now, would it?" The boy was delighted to see the look of confusion spread across her face before a look of understanding dawned over her as she pieced two and two together.

"L-look her, guy, I don't even know you. Heck, I'm not even from around here! This is all just some kind of… misunderstanding. Yeah, that's it! A misunderstanding!" The girl had her hands up in front of her and inched back a little, a wary grin twitching upon her face as she tried to think of someway out of her predicament.

"Is that so?" The boy crossed an arm over his chest in order to lean his elbow on one hand and rub at his chin in mock contemplation with the other. "My name is Ryoga Hibiki. My family owns this land so if you weren't here to steal from me, perhaps it was to seek my hand in marriage?" He lowered his arms to his waist, each hand resting upon a hip as an arrogant smirk developed on his face. "If that's the case, you've surely made the most dramatic entrance I've seen yet. It makes me wonder how your actual proposal would go."

It was then that the pigtailed girl decided to scrutinize the person in front of her incredulously. She took in his sweaty, disheveled hair, his long sleeved, yellow shirt and his dark green trousers with yellow stitching at the legs. As she continued to stare the boy, now known as Ryoga, became increasingly intrigued. The red headed beauty began to grip at her sides, head hung low, and began to shake almost violently. He was about to question her about what was wrong when she suddenly burst out laughing, her head thrown backwards as if she could not believe what she had just heard. "W-what's so funny?!" He shouted, taking up a defending stance, almost feeling ridiculed.

"Y-you are!" She gasped out. She tried to calm herself by leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths of air. When she felt composed enough, the girl stood back up to face Ryoga. "Do you honestly think I'd fall for that? I mean, HECK, look at how you're dressed!" She pointed dramatically at his garb. "Do you mean to tell me that royalty dress like _that?_" She scoffed indignantly at him, hand waving in the air forwards and back, before turning towards the break in the wall. "Listen, I'd tell you I'd see you later but there are more important people I need to see. Besides, I'd have to be damn near crazy to want to marry a buffoon like you, especially since you're a guy."

The whole time the girl spoke Ryoga's head had increasingly lowered, his jaw taut with aggravation, as she derailed him of his title. It was at her dismissal that he allowed his head to snap up in attention and call out to her through clenched teeth. "I won't allow some nameless girl who vandalized my property and spoke so disrespectfully towards me to walk out of here so easily!" He normally wouldn't have minded if someone had spoken to him as if he were a commoner for he actually preferred to be amongst the villagers themselves than to be cooped up on palace grounds and forced into studious activities at all hours of the days. But this, _this stranger_ had basically barged into his home and called him a liar! Who was she to talk to him like that?

The redhead looked over her shoulder disinterestedly at him. "My name's Ranma Saotome, heir to the 'Anything Goes Martial Arts training style.'" Completely disregarding the rest of his outburst, the girl continued on her way, leaving an incredulous Ryoga rooted to the spot with his mouth gaping wide open.

It was when she had finally disappeared from site that something she said jumped out at him. _"...I'd have to be damn near crazy to want to marry a buffoon like you, especially since you're a guy."_ He repeated the last part to himself albeit incredulously. "Does that means she's into _girls_?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma had been hoping to find a new martial artist to train under for a couple weeks and had been anticipating their arrival within in a new village for days. When they finally reached this village, you can imagine his excitement. The pigtailed martial artist jumped for joy with his right arm extended upwards in uncontained joy. "Finally! It's been forever since I ate a decent meal." A rather thick arm came crashing onto his head after he landed causing him to squint his eyes and rub at his head. "What was that for, Old Man?!' Ranma cried out indignantly.

"Watch your tongue, Boy! A true martial artist never complains." His father whimsically spouted nonsense with crossed arms and closed eyes. This meant that he was so caught up in his moment of "wisdom" that he had not even realized Ranma was leaving him behind. Said boy had crossed his own arms behind his head and began walking further into the village with little interest for his father.

Inside the village was a bustling of villagers. One would almost say this was normal were it not for the alarmed glances they were giving each other while the mothers quickly ushering their children into the houses. _"Well that's odd. I wonder what's goin' on."_ Ranma thought to himself, arms still behind his head as he continued an even pace forward, looking around curiously at his surroundings.

It was when a villager called, _"Watch out!"_ that Ranma's arms dropped and he looked to the left of him.

What caught his attention was a bull running straight for him, its eyes narrowed in an enraged manner. "Woah!" was all he had time to yell before jumping up and over the bull's head. Unfortunately he misjudged his distance and ended up landing on the bull's back; his instinct was to grab onto its horns and hold on for dear life and crying out to the people, "Move out of the way. I can't control this thing!"

The bull charged all throughout the town, seemingly running on over drive. At this point Ranma's arms were growing numb and his head fuzzy due to all the twists and turns the creature had deemed necessary to take. In their wake they left confused villagers poking their heads out from their housing and wondering why a stranger was riding on top of one of their bulls. The one's who had witnessed the boy leap onto its back were curious as to why he didn't just jump right back off of it.

After what seemed like an impeccably long bull ride, the creature decided it finally wanted to rid itself of its passenger. The bull proceeded to buck and charge and spin around, successfully causing the boy to grow even more dizzy. It was while Ranma was trying to get his bearings back that this bull got the bright idea to go headfirst through one of the larger walls this village had to offer. "Ahh!" Ranma let a surprised yell rush past his lips and clenched his eyes shut once he realized what was happening.

Debris exploded around the two who crashed through the wall. Luckily for Ranma, the bull took another short charge forward, turned, and then finally stopped. He had been about to let go and hop off when the animal started forward again. What shocked him was that it was abruptly cut short and sent him flying right into a pond.

_"Oh great, just what I needed!"_ Ranma dragged herself from the shallow depths, sputtering water out of her mouth while wiping a hand over her eyes. She looked up from her position on all fours and saw what had stopped the rampaging bull. It was a quite flabbergasted boy that appeared to be around her age. His hand was half extended to her but as she pulled herself the rest of the way up he promptly retracted it.

"A-a-a-are…" The boy paused for a minute and she watched as his eyes closed, almost as if he were embarrassed, and he cleared his throat. "Are you alright?"

* * *

Quite frankly their meeting didn't hit off with a _bang!_ Instead, it left one Ranma Soatome stalking away with a churning stomach that some guy seemed to be so interested in his girl form. _"What's worse is that- that- that __**guy**__ thought that she had wished to propose to him!"_ Ranma was fuming, his hand clenched out in front of him.

After he had returned to the village he announced to the people that the bull had tired itself out and was beyond the wall behind him. He then went in search for his pops who happened to be in panda form, stuffing his face full of fruits and vegetables from a local vender's market. Ranma had smacked him upside the head and dragged him into the bath house that was, lucky for them, empty.

They were now currently inside a small house that was quite graciously offered to them by a villager who was thank that Ranma had "dealt" with their bull problem. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?

"We're so grateful to you for tiring out that bull, Sirs." The man replied, referring to Genma as well who, of course, took as much credit as he could get.

"Ah, it was nothing." Genma guffawed, his mouth hanging open obnoxiously.

Ranma slammed his elbow onto his father's head to quiet him down. "You're being rude, Pops." He gritted his teeth, obviously not pleased with his father taking credit for something the older man had nothing to do with. Sighing exasperatedly, Ranma sat back down and dinner was served not long after.

As usual, Genma and Ranma stuffed their faces and fought one another off as they tried to steal food from one another's plates. This sent pieces of rice flying off their plates at many angles, splattering occasionally on the table top, but for the most part it just ended up on them. When they did slow down it was either to drink some water or hold at their bowls for more. Their hosts, of course, just stared in awe, not being used to such table manners.

After dinner, father and son were escorted to their sleeping quarters. Genma fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow whereas Ranma stayed up for a few more minutes, his head full of thoughts from that day._"Who does that guy think he is, assuming I was proposin' to him and stuff..."_ A scowl settled itself over his face before he shook it off. _"Ah, whatever. Not like I care what he thinks. I'd never propose to a guy, especially one that arrogant."_ With that, the pigtailed boy fell asleep.

The early morning came with twittering of birds, a face full of sunshine, and a bucket full of water being splashed on one unsuspecting boy. "Gah! What was that for, Old Man?!" Ranma sputtered, agitated at being awakened so rudely.

"A real 'Man Amongst Men' would have been able to avoid that easily." Genma announced indignantly.

"Oh yeah? Let's see you dodge this!" Ranma's higher pitched voice took the seriousness in which Genma saw his child down a few notches. That put a huge dent in his guard as he began laughing after Ranma's first swing had missed, but only by a hair.

You're too sloppy, Bo-" Genma's sentence was cut off as Ranma's leg flew into his stomach, sending him reeling to the side.

"Who's sloppy now, huh?" Ranma stood cockily above her father, both hands on her hips before turning about. "I'm going to go take a shower. I don't want to meet any possible trainers in this body."

It wasn't until his child had left the room that Genma stood back up and prepared to leave himself, but of course not before cursing her behind her back. "Damn that boy."

Once Ranma finished bathing himself, relieved to be a boy again, he and his father mounted their bags on their shoulders and left. Their hosts seemed to have already went about their daily chores seeing as how they were not to be found inside the house. This was okay for them because it meant they didn't have to show their gratitude all over again and let them leave without all those pesky goodbyes and what not.

They took the road leading further into the village for the other one would have directed them from which they originally came. The further they went into the village, the closer the buildings became to each other until, finally, they reached a small clearing. This clearing surrounded the road they were travelling upon and stretched up towards a small incline. At the top was what Ranma recognized to be the palace grounds he had happened upon the following evening.

_"Oh great, I hope that pervert isn't still there."_ He internally face palmed himself at the less than appreciated path his fate always seemed to throw at him, regardless of his wishes.


End file.
